With Layoffs, Will Patch Wither on the Vine?

Pour one out for our BFFs at Reston Patch and Herndon Patch, both of whom were laid off yesterday in a massive downsizing of the nationwide network of local news websites, after AOL sold a big chunk of the business. No one seems to know exactly how many journalists were eliminated, but both of our local editors confirmed that they were laid off.


While all 900 Patch sites will supposedly remain open, there's a minor detail: There's no one to staff them at the local level. We can look forward to more dubious data-driven maps, some wacky news, but, more likely than not, not much in the way of Reston-specific information. And how will we keep track of our neighbor to the west's continuing debate over allowing farm animals in backyards?

All joking aside, local journalism matters, and after one of our community newspapers went out of business, we were excited that Patch was created to fill a growing void in very local news coverage. We've seen ample examples of the difference between what matters to Reston and what matters to Fairfax County. Fortunately, there's still Reston Now, the site launched by former Patch editor Karen Goff. And, um, there's this filthy "web log," although we've been told by authoritative sources that we're not experienced journalists, and after watching All the President's Men, we've figured out that we'd actually have to leave the house to do some, whazzitcalled, "reporting." And who knows, maybe the folks at Patch will surprise us, and not turn the local sites into what those of us in the "web logging" business like to call zombie sites: